Rear View Mirror: 1975 Cadillac Mirage Sports Wagon

I came across this interesting Cadillac some years ago, at the Rhinebeck car show. The owner informed me that it was called a “Mirage Sports Wagon”, and was built by a California based company called Traditional Coach Works. Must be a mirage, I thought, because it sure looked like a pickup to me – not a wagon.

Every Mirage started life as a Cadillac Coupe DeVille, and was converted by Traditional, “for use by the discriminating sportsman, rancher or gentleman farmer.” The company also offered a “Castilian Fleetwood Estate Wagon” (which, surprisingly, wasn’t called a pickup). This was a six passenger station wagon, created from a Cadillac Fleetwood.

Mirage or Castilian, the purchase process for either was similarly straight forward. Prospective buyers placed their orders at a Cadillac dealership. The car was shipped directly from the factory to Traditional’s shop in California for the conversion. Upon completion, the Castilian or Mirage was trucked to the dealership where the order was placed, for delivery to the customer.

One had to be truly smitten by these models in order to buy one – at least, judging from the price. I have an order form from a ’76 Mirage (the photo in this post depicts a ’75, while the brochure features ’76 models). This custom pickem’ up had the sobering bottom line of $27,460.50. The price of the new, loaded “donor” Coupe DeVille contributed $13,540 to the final sticker, while the conversion added a stunning, $13,895.50. To that was added freight back to the dealership and a wonderfully superfluous “Service Fee” of $25.00, tacked on by the dealer.

The fit and finish of the ’75 Mirage that I photographed was quite good, and while these models inevitably remind you of a flower car, color choice is key. A Firethorn Red Mirage, for example, would be less likely to invite such comparisons than one in basic black or white.

Conversions of Cadillacs into service vehicles – ambulances, hearses, and the like – aren’t exactly commonplace. But, they’re far less rare than the number of wagon/pickup makeovers made by Traditional, or Caribou Motor Corp. (another custom converter of Cadillacs). Traditional’s Cadillac conversions were offered in 1975-76, and while I’ve not seen any definitive production numbers, estimates suggest that the company generated some 200-250 conversions. Among the most notable of their customers was daredevil Evel Knievel.